La Guelaguetza

It brings together the indigenous cultures from all the regions of Oaxaca to proudly display their unique traditions through music and dance, song and ceremony.

A Zapotec word signifying offering, Guelaguetza was the name for The ancient feast of Xilonen, goddess of tender corn. held each year after the start of the rainy season to assure sufficient rain and a bountiful harvest.

When the Spanish arrived in Oaxaca in 1521 to impose their religion on the indigenous people, one of their tactics was to eliminate deeply rooted customs and pagan practices by replacing them with the veneration of Catholic saints. They destroyed temples and built churches on the ruins, conserving the holiness of the place but identifying it with the new religion.

In the case of the Guelaguetza, the idea was to change it to a celebration of the feast on July 16 of the Virgin of Carmel. The festival endured through Colonial and pre-Revolutionary times. Then in 1932, as part of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of the city of Oaxaca, groups from all the regions of the state paid homage to their capital with a great festival of dance, music and presentation of their particular traditions. It was held on the hill overlooking the city now known as the Cerro del Fortín, Hill of the Fort, the location of Aztec garrisons there in the 15th century.

In 1974 a special auditorium was built to accommodate the performances. Mondays on the Hill this year are July 19 and 26. Tickets sell out fast, but there are a multitude of other activities that take place in the city, many of which are free.

Among these are the contest to elect the Diosa Centeotl (Corn Goddess) from among the different regional delegations to the Guelaguetza. There are fairs and expos, concerts, theater and dance in different parts of the city especially in Jardin el Pañuelito, on the Andador Turistico (Macedoneo Alcalá), at the Zocalo, in the atrium of the Santo Domingo church and the Plaza de la Danza.

The city is always an interesting cradle of cultures, but during Lunes del Cerro the city is positively vibrating with sights, sounds, smells and excitement. The city center is crammed with arts and crafts, food stalls and parades of fabulously bedecked participants seem to take place constantly.

For a taste of Lunes del Cerro closer to Puerto, visit Villa Tutútepec which stages its own celebration on the sacred "Hill of Birds". Tutútepec is famous for its Fandango de Varitas, which features five or six musicians playing guitar, violin, cajón (a wooden box), charrasca and a cántaro (a kind of bass made from a clay pot).